Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Mid Week at My Place: Earth Week

Earth Week and Easter in one week makes for one very busy gal indeed. Course I'm right on top of it hopelessly behind in my to-do's now that they are both right behind us. Well they are not really, not for me anyway - we are still celebrating both at Little Footprints till the end of the month with a great sale that's keeping me busy - but I digress!!!!

The thing about busy is we always are busy. When Earth Week comes around I'm reminded to slow down a bit, admire this lovely planet we are on and try to do something, no matter how small, to at least keep it this nice  if not make it a little nicer.

This year I might have been reminded but things have felt very busy of late and sadly it feels kinda tough to take on even one new little task. There seems to be so many other tasks lined up already waiting for their turn.  But I have a plan and it's as simple as deck of cards.

 We have these Boom Boom cards, ours at home is the Family Edition. It's this great deck of cards full of easily achievable things to do that bring some good and once you've done it you then get to share the card and tell your story to inspire others. We've loved trying them out, having had fun planting flowers for others to enjoy which you can read about over at our profile at Boom Boom but we could use them more. In fact their one of those things standing in line waiting to be done so I've made a promise to myself we will do one card a month and pass it on till next Earth Day. Since their full of easy to do acts of altruism I'm pretty sure we'll have left a happier vibe on this lovely planet of ours and done some good for it along the way if we do. And hey, if we document it back on the Boom Boom site where we can share the great things we've done we can track our progress and share it with others.


If you would like to join me in my quest to do a wee bit o' good once a month we just happen to have the Boom Boom Cards Green Deck on sale for 20% off at that great little sale I mentioned at the shop. That makes them under $10! How's that for a green deal? There totally full of great little ideas and totally fun to do. :)



If you've made your own promise to your self to do a bit more good this Earth Week I'd love to hear about it!

In the meantime,

BHappy and have fun
Barb

Friday, April 22, 2011

Fridays I'm In Love: With These Chicks

Easter is right around the corner. Tomorrow the neighborhood festivities kick off around here with Easter Egg Hunts, visits with family and a parade on Sunday.

There's lots of chocolates and treats to be had and hid but when did it become all about chocolate? Don't get me wrong I love the stuff, more than I should, but does that mean I need to hop my kids full of it for the sake of a bunny and a basket? So since I know that the neighborhood and family will provide tonnes of energy amping sweets we are going to hide crafts and toys instead and if the item is too big we will put a ticket in an egg for them to trade.



What won't need a ticket when we hide them is this set of 3 puzzle Chicks. Each of the 6 pieces will fit nicely in an egg to be hid and once found the kids can trade with each other till they each get a complete chick. Since I know they are also made sustainably with rubber-wood and child safe paints I also can feel good knowing their fun is also planet friendly.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Mid-Week at My Place: Tie Dye Eggs

We've been in the Easter spirit this week over here. The kids decorated the house and I've been trying too remember to blow out the eggs rather than crack them each time we use eggs to collect a few for dying. Truth is, I don't remember very often and I'm not the kind of mum who turns round and bakes a cake or something when she finds herself in need of a bowl full of eggshells. And while I love getting crafty I'm a lazy mum I try to gear the craft to the abilities of my young kids so we don't all get frustrated.

So last year I found a few people talking about how to dye eggs with old silk ties and I began to experiment with it. I was hooked. The kids too. And the bonus, no one is getting their fingers covered in dyes that last for days. We love this craft so much the kids both asked me to make kits to share with their friends and since that was easy enough I happily obliged.


This year we have done a bunch already and we plan to more still and since I did remember to blow a few eggs out we might even try a few more traditionally dyed eggs.

If you want to know how to tie dye your own eggs here is a little how to. It's real easy and you gotta just love how they turn out.


Tie Dye Easter Eggs

Cut apart old silk ties and cut out squares big enough to cover an average egg.  
 
 Wrap a raw egg with a piece of the patterned silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Silk can still be used if it doesn't fit perfectly around egg and you can wrap the egg with 2 swatches of silk too if you like. 
 
Place the silk-wrapped egg in the piece of white sheet and secure tightly with a twist-tie. Make sure it is good and snug.
Place the egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot.* Fill pot with water to cover eggs completely. Then, add three tablespoons of white vinegar. Do not overcrowd the eggs. 
*do not use a metal pot, it may react with the vinegar.
 Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 20 minutes.Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool.Remove silk from cooled egg.

 Additional Ideas:
  • For shiny eggs, wipe with vegetable oil
  • Silk squares can be reused.
  • Any silk goods such as ties, blouses, and boxers can be used to make more squares but the heaviest silk and brighter/more intense patterns tend to have more ink and that seems to work better.
  • The white squares are sheets and tablecloths. 
  • Make gift sets to share with friends. Tie the bundles together with a strip of the white fabric. 


BHappy and have fun!
Barb

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Wear Pink So Others Can Too!

Tomorrow is Pink Day.

In 2007 two Nova Scotia students marshaled their friends and others via email to wear pink in support of a younger student who had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. Now we have Pink Day on April 13th to show tolerance and support anti-bullying efforts.

In this house we're already planning.

My daughters plans are laughable. She plans to wear pink. She decided this 3 days ago. Course, I don't know how she was going to get around it if she didn't want to participate - it's not like she has anything to wear that *isn't* pink.

My son's plans are sadly fraught with more concern. He wants to wear pink. Asked me what we have that he could wear - I suggested we raid his sisters closet or maybe wear pink polish.

'Polish!' he cried delight.

To date my son has been well chuffed to sport blue, yellow or green polish. He has an older sister, he does what she does. He likes how it looks. Recently, mostly now that he has started kindergarten, he has been increasingly concerned about what his friends will think when they see his fingers or toes all done up.

He think about it for a second longer and says somewhat worriedly some friends will laugh.

I asked him what he was going to do.

He said 'maybe I will hide my fingers every-time I'm talking to him'. I said for sure he could do that.

Then he said 'No, I think I'll just ignore him instead'

Wise words from a young dude.

Tomorrow please wear pink so everyone can wear what they want to wear when they want to wear it no matter who they are, what they are, what they like and all that stuff.

Cheers
Barb

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Mid-Week at My Place: Colourful Hang-Outs



We had lots of fun painting bird houses for our local feathered friends this week.


Using yummy smelling all natural paints from Clementine Art and some funky pre-made wood bird houses we picked up recently we got stuck into an afternoons fun of pattern making and serious paint splodging.

 The paints are great. Hand down - of course - it is fabulous that Clementine Art makes these paints with all natural ingredients, they're completely free of chemical dyes and petrochemicals - just the kind of stuff I like my kids playing with. It also means I don't mind being lazy and using a kitchen plate and egg spoons as artists equipment. But the Interior Designer in me also loves how the set is comprised of a balanced palate, made with Mayan mineral earth pigments, the colours are beautiful and work so great with each other.


Today one of us was a master blender of colour,

While another was working much more meticulously on her pattern making.


No matter how we came to our finished creations we were really proud of our results and just couldn't wait to hang them up outside.


Hope the birdies enjoy them as much as we've enjoyed their Spring songs!

And hope your having a great day too!
Barb

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Sowing for Spring

Sun's shining outside and I'm transferring my wee little seedlings to bigger digs. We've sowed 6 different kinds of veggies and hope that something will grow into yummy eats but for now it's a fun family project.

The tools are my sons gardening set, perfect size for the task.

It's a bit of what I'm up to this weekend.Hope your enjoying a sunny Spring like day yourself!

Have fun!
Barb